Golden Sun Moth Synemon Plana
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Action Statement FloraFlora and and Fauna Fauna Guarantee Guarantee Act Act 1988 1988 No. No. ### 106 Golden Sun Moth Synemon plana Description and Distribution The Golden Sun Moth Synemon plana is a small diurnal moth belonging to the family Castniidae in the insect order Lepidoptera. The Castniidae includes 30 genera with representatives in the Neo- tropical, Oriental and Australian regions, indicating a Gondwanan origin. The Australian species are represented by a single endemic genus (Synemon) which contains about 43 species. The adults of all the species are generally dull-coloured; females have brighter hind wings. Golden Sun Moth adults are unique among Synemon species for having semi-flightless females and exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism. Golden Sun Moth Synemon plana The forewings of the male are dark brown with (Female bottom left, male top right) grey scales and the hindwings are bronzy-brown (illustration by Sarah Reglar from ACT Government and black. The underside of the male is pale grey (1998)) with brown patches. The forewings of the female are brown and grey, and the hindwings are bright orange with black submarginal spots. The underside of both wings of the female is white with black submarginal spots. The male has a wingspan of about 3.5cm whilst the female is smaller with a wingspan of about 3cm. Coloured illustrations of adults may be found in Common (1990) and in Dear (1997). No detailed descriptions or illustrations of the pupa and larva are known. At the time of European settlement, the Golden Sun Moth was widespread and relatively continuous throughout its range, inhabiting grassy open-woodlands and grasslands (Edwards 1993). Distribution in Victoria Historical records show that the Golden Sun Moth (+ before 1970, 1970 onwards) was found as far north as Winburndale near (source: Atlas of Victorian Wildlife, NRE 1998) Bathurst and the Yass Plains in New South Wales (Edwards 1991; Venn 1993). In Victoria the Golden urban development, cultivation, weed invasion, Sun Moth once inhabited vast areas around wetland drainage, fertiliser application, Bendigo, Williamstown, Mansfield, Eildon, Salisbury overgrazing and changes in fire management have and Nhill. Bordertown was the only record in resulted in the decline of native grasslands, and South Australia (CNR 1995). It also occupied large the consequent loss of their associated areas of the Australian Capital Territory (Edwards invertebrate fauna. Habitat loss or alteration is 1991). The Golden Sun Moth is currently known considered to be the major cause of decline of from 10-12 sites in the ACT, and 29 sites in New many species of invertebrates. South Wales (Clark & O’Dwyer 1998). No Other factors which directly threaten the habitat, populations of the Golden Sun Moth have been and hence the viability of known populations, found recently in South Australia (Edwards 1994). include degradation of the habitat through rubbish In Victoria, the Golden Sun Moth is found in five to dumping and the inappropriate planting of trees. seven sites (NRE 1998). These sites are small and The Golden Sun Moth has a very specialised habitat isolated. A colony is found in the Salisbury of grasslands dominated by Austrodanthonia spp. Bushland Reserve (east of Nhill). The reserve, These grasslands have been almost entirely bounded by the Western Highway, a dirt road and destroyed, or significantly altered, by agriculture. private properties, is approximately 500 x 500m. Populations have been isolated and fragmented, However, it is thought that the Golden Sun Moth impeding the ability of the relatively immobile occupies only small areas of grassland within the females to recolonise areas, thereby reducing the reserve. Specimens have also been located along likelihood of genetic exchange. the railway line extending from Salisbury into Nhill (C. Crouch pers. comm.). A further site located at There is no evidence that predation by natural or Nhill is within the township on a small private introduced predators has contributed to the allotment. Another colony is located on the north- decline in the Golden Sun Moth. However, Willie east side of Mount Piper, south west of Broadford Wagtails Rhipidura leucophrys and robber flies in central Victoria. Populations have also been (family Asilidae) have been observed capturing the recorded north of Tallarook (80km north of Golden Sun Moth (New, O’Dwyer pers.obs.). Melbourne) and on the summit of Junction Hill on In its final recommendation the Scientific Advisory Yea Spur, north-east of Flowerdale (Douglas 1993). Committee (SAC 1994) determined that the Golden It is not known how large or extensive these Sun Moth is: colonies are and whether they still persist. The Golden Sun Moth was more recently found on a • in a demonstrable state of decline which is private grazing property near Dunkeld (Dear 1996), likely to result in extinction. a roadside verge in Hexham and at the Hamilton • significantly prone to future threats which are Community Parkland (New pers. comm.). likely to result in extinction. Current conservation Status • very rare in terms of distribution or abundance. The Golden Sun Moth has been listed as a Major Conservation Objective threatened taxon under the Flora and Fauna The major conservation objective is to ensure the Guarantee Act 1988. It is listed as endangered protection and conservation of existing known under the ACT Nature Conservation Act 1980 and populations of the Golden Sun Moth. This will be the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act achieved by: 1995. • maintaining in the wild the seven extant Reasons for conservation status colonies with greater than 500 individuals to retain maximum genetic variation; The Golden Sun Moth has been eliminated over much of its former range. There are approximately • increase the number of known populations; 30 localities represented by museum specimens • maximising grassland habitat at all seven although only seven extant sites are currently sites through regenerating Austrodanthonia known The Golden Sun Moth is threatened by spp. and rehabilitating the sites; habitat loss, disturbance and fragmentation. • protecting and enhancing suitable natural Habitat degradation has resulted in local habitat areas to ensure that the percentage extinctions throughout its range. The major cause cover of Austrodanthonia is greater than of decline has been the loss of habitat because of forty percent. agricultural expansion and urbanisation. This decline has largely been caused by the loss of suitable food plants or by changes in the structure of grasslands. The widespread replacement of native vegetation with pasture plants and changes in vegetation composition and structure due to 2 Management Issues cultivation and weed invasion and are under continual threat from fertiliser application, altered Ecological Issues Specific to Taxon fire and grazing regimes. Remnants of native Habitat grassland and grassy woodland are limited in area and are fragmented. However, the importance of The Golden Sun Moth occurs in native grasslands these remnants to conservation is extremely high. dominated by species from the genus The Golden Sun Moth, having a specific habitat Austrodanthonia, in particular, Austrodanthonia relationship and dependence upon the host plant carphoides, A. auriculata, A. eriantha, and A. of Austrodanthonia spp. in native grasslands and setacea. These plants are found on a range of soil grassy woodlands, highlights the vital importance types in a variety of environmental conditions. of retaining the habitat. The alteration of However, the percentage cover of Austrodanthonia ecological processes and function within and must be greater than 40% to be suitable for the adjacent to remaining habitat of the Golden Sun Golden Sun Moth (Dear 1997). Moth is a threat to all remaining populations of the Life cycle species. Little is known about the reproductive life cycle of The Golden Sun Moth has been eliminated over The Golden Sun Moth, although it is likely that it much of its former range, and the remaining takes 2-3 years, as for other Castiinids (Edwards populations have been isolated thereby reducing 1994). The life history of Synemon magnifica has the likelihood of genetic exchange. Inbreeding may been described and it is suspected that the life lead to the accumulation and expression of history of the Golden Sun Moth is similar (Edwards deleterious genes and eventual population pers. comm.). In general female sun moths emerge collapse. from the pupa with fully developed eggs, ready to Populations are typically disjunct and are mate. After mating, the female deposits the eggs restricted to small, isolated remnants of native singly between the tillers of the food plant, and the vegetation within larger modified areas. soil, where they hatch in about 21 days. Although Golden Sun Moth females can fly, they tend to lay Females have reduced hind wings and are reluctant in wait, flashing their small bright orange wings to to fly even when disturbed, and whilst adult males attract the attention of patrolling males (Harwood are capable of active and prolonged flight they will et al. 1995). Ovipositioning in the species has not not fly long distances. Thus areas of suitable been observed. habitat are unlikely to be (re) colonised due to their poor dispersal ability. It is suspected that the first instar larvae tunnels into the tillers of the plant, feeding internally on Use of pesticides in pasture management, often in the plant tissue for about eleven months. The association with fertilisers, is likely to pose a direct number of larval instars is unknown. The larvae threat to the Golden Sun Moth since pesticides are construct short, silk-lined tunnels into the soil to used to control the larvae (and sometimes the feed externally on the rhizomes and roots, adults) of some Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and branching off along the rhizomes, thus developing Orthoptera pest species (army worms, cut worms a tunnel system. Before pupation a vertical tunnel and black field-crickets, etc) which feed on the to the soil surface is constructed, housing the pupa roots and underground stems of pasture plants.